Stuffed baby aubergines

Regular readers might be aware of my less-than-enthusiastic outlook when it comes to the edibility of aubergines (brinjals or eggplant, in other words). But there are plenty of people who DO like them - my mother and my husband, to name two. So I dont really mind making aubergine recipes for them. Just as long as nobody asks me to eat what I make, I'm happy.

I've seen various stuffed aubergine recipes on the Net, and all of them seem perfectly good recipes... but I thought I would try out my own combination of ingredients for the stuffing and come up with something slightly different. Mind, though, I probably wouldnt have considered peanuts as a stuffing ingredient had I not read so many posts in Indira's blog where she's used peanuts in so many ways!

I also pounded all the ingredients to a coarse powder using a mortar and pestle. It would have taken me all of one minute to do it in the dry grinder, but I decided to go the hard way and pound away for 10 minutes with the blessed mortar and pestle.



The only reason I did it was because I didnt want the peanuts and sesame seeds to get hot, exude oil and turn into a paste instead of a powder. (It can happen in a dry grinder because of the heat from the machine, as both peanuts and sesame seeds are oil-rich.)

Now I cant personally vouch for the taste of this recipe because I didnt try it, but it got a thumbs-up from my mother, for whom I made this dry-ish curry. In return, she kindly made me potato fry. Talk about perfect give-and-take!

Recipe for: Stuffed baby aubergines



Ingredients:

15 small round baby brinjals with stalks

Pound or grind together the following ingredients to a coarse powder:



1/3 cup roasted peanuts
2 tbsp dry-roasted coriander seeds
2 tsp dry-roasted cumin seeds
½ tsp aniseed powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
2 tsp sesame seeds (I used 1 tsp black and 1 tsp white)
1/8 tsp powdered methi seeds
Salt to taste



Mix with the coarsely ground powder:
2 tbsp finely minced shallots



Reserve 1 tbsp of this stuffing for the wet masala and use the rest to stuff the baby aubergines.



For the wet masala:
1 tbsp of the stuffing
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Cut off the stalks of the aubergines so that they sit level on their base. Dont remove the leaf-like bits - they help hold the aubergines together and are edible too.

2. Make two slits in the aubergines, like a "+" sign. Take care not to cut them all the way to the bottom.

3. Gentle separate one half of a slit aubergine with your left hand, and use a small spoon to put the stuffing in. Then open the other half and stuff that as well. Gently brush off any excess masala.



Continue till the aubergines are all stuffed.

4. In a flat wide pan, heat 2 tbsp oil. Drop in the reserved dry masala and fry it for a minute or so.



5. Add the chopped tomatoes, a little salt and the ginger-garlic paste and stir it all in.



6. Arrange the stuffed aubergines carefully in the pan, making sure they dont fall over. The tomatoes will cook down to a paste as the aubergines cook.



7. Pour about 1/4 cup water carefully around the aubergines, then close the pan and let it simmer on medium-low for 15-20 minutes or till the aubergines are cooked. Check after 15 minutes to make sure that the tomato masala at the bottom has not dried out. Sprinkle a little more water if it looks like it might burn.

8. When the aubergines are soft and done, turn off the heat. Serve hot with chapaties.

Note: I removed each cooked aubergine carefully to a plate and added a couple of tablespoons water to the tomato masala in the pan, just to stir it up. Then I put the masala in a serving dish, arranged the aubergines on top again and served the dish.

Kathirikkai sadham (Curried brinjal/aubergine/eggplant rice)

Here's one dish I never thought I'd be writing about in my blog, much less make it at home! Mainly because my taste-buds REALLY dislike aubergines from the bottom of their little souls. There's no way to disguise it, not even buried under tonnes of cheese - I always know when that slug-like vegetable has found its way into my food!

However, no more mentions of slugs in the same breath as aubergines, since this is a recipe that became reality and was, apparently, edible.

I made curried aubergine rice for my husband, to rave reviews. He said he'd never had anything like it ever. This I believe, because I was really going to make something else (Saffron Hut's Dahiwale Baingan) with the aubergines, not combine it with rice! But I found out a little too late that my sour cream had perished of old age (when it's a fuzzy green on top, you can pretty much be sure of its demise) and I didnt want to use yogurt. So there went that idea.

Then, since there was some leftover rice from yesterday, I decided to marry the aubergine to the rice. Not such an unlikely pairing, really, going by the end result.



I want to say here that Saffron Hut's instructions worked out really well. She said to use the long thin kind of aubergines. So I did. She said to marinate the cut aubergines in a ginger-garlic-salt mix. So I did. She said to place it thereafter in a colander and put a bowl of water on top to squeeze out the bitter juices. So I did. And my goodness, did that ever work! It was pretty surprising to see just how much liquid got squeezed out. The aubergines also picked up the flavour of the marinade, according to feedback from my husband.

I pretty much followed the original recipe until the aubergines were cooked. Then I sauteed cumin seeds, coriander powder, mustard seeds and a bay leaf in a little oil and cooked two thinly sliced onions to a nice golden brown. (I would have added a few minced green chillies had I been making this for anyone but Pete - but he isnt fond of chillies really... something to do with HIS tastebuds, apparently!) Mixed in the rice and last of all, added the cooked aubergines. Served with a nice chilled tomato raita, this was quite a hit with Pete.

And because my taste buds rebel at the idea of eating aubergines, no matter how delectably cooked, I had toast and marmalade for dinner.

Recipe for: Kathirikkai sadham (curried brinjal/aubergine/eggplant rice)



Ingredients:

4 cups rice, cooked
2 cups sliced Japanese aubergines (cut them in half lengthwise, then slice into 1/2-cm thick half-moons)
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 fresh green chillies, cut into very thin rounds (optional)
1 tsp salt
4 tsp oil
2 medium onions, sliced thin
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
5-6 fresh curry leaves
1/2 tsp garam masala (optional)
2 tsp fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Method:

1. Sprinkle salt over the aubergines, then mix with the ginger-garlic paste. Place in a colander, and put something heavy on top (a large bowl of water is what I used), so that the bitter juices drain away.

2. In a pan, heat 2 tsp oil and pop the mustard seeds and green chillies if using. Add in the sliced aubergines and stir well.



3. Cook on medium high, stirring occasionally, until the aubergine is cooked and acquiring brownish spots. Ser aside.



4. In a large pan, heat the remaining oil. Add the curry leaves, cumin seeds, coriander powder and garam masala and fry for 30 seconds until the cumin seeds turn a darker shade of brown.

5. Add the sliced onions, mix well and cook on medium high, until they start to turn golden brown. (Add an extra tsp of oil if you wish.)

6. Put in the rice and stir well, keeping it on the heat until it is warmed through. Mix in the cooked aubergines and check for salt.

7. Serve hot with a side of chilled tomato or cucumber raita, pickle and papads.